celebrating and supporting artisan businesses

Another Update

written by August 19, 2011

I’ve had a delay on the boxes — it’ll be a couple more weeks before I can put them on my site, but the prints I’ve seen so far show that the gold foil is really beautiful. The oak leaf design is working really well in the foil and I can’t wait to get my shipment.

Meantime, I’m getting back to the new scents. I have a good start on the reformulation of Opal. One of the issues with Opal is that I want to change the blend of musks in it to use only macrocyclic musks with no polycyclic musks (the macrocyclics are biodegradable and better for the environment, so I no longer use the polycyclics when I formulate). I like the new musk blend for Opal so far. It also has sandalwood, vanilla, and tonka as before. I’m working with some soft floral aspects and deciding what to do about the little bergamot citrus note it had originally.

For those who may be visiting the SF area, Natalie on Another Perfume Blog recently posted a guide to perfume shops to visit in the city. She included photos too, which is fun.

I’ll post on the What’s New page and here on the blog when the new boxes are finally shipping, and I’ll post when I have the next mods ready on the new scents

9 comments

brigitteAugust 21, 2011 - 2:56 pm

I just finished reading about you on the CaFleurebon American Perfumer Series. I also hail from a town called Woodside (it’s in the borough of Queens in NYC!) and both of my parents came to this country 54 years ago from Europe (Switzerland and Germany)! I have been following your blog and visiting your website for several months now. I would love to try some of your creations in sample format but I am not sure which ones. Any suggestions? I thought I would treat myself to a sample gift package but I might wait until the Fig, Opal and vintage inspired fragrance are up and running, as these, as well as the violet scents, intrigue me the most. Maybe a Christmas present to myself? Also, I am curious as to how much synthetics you put in your perfume. I would like to go as natural as possible which, at times, can be next to impossible, especially when I fall in love with a vintage scent!

Hi Brigitte! Nice to meet another Woodsider! 🙂 I wonder how many Woodsides are in the US.

If you like woodsy notes you might try Winter Woods, Tabac Aurea, Incense Pure, and Champagne de Bois since those are four of the most popular scents. Since you like violet you might try To Dream and/or Lieu de Reves as well as Voile de Violette and Wood Violet.

I’m not sure which of the scents in progress will be out first, but I’d really like to get the vintage inspired and Opal out this fall. The vintage inspired is very high in naturals, but Opal is not since it is has quite a bit of musk.

My fragrances vary a lot in naturals content, with the highest being Incense Pure, Fireside Intense, and Ambre Noir. I think what I leave out is as important as what I put in though, in terms of defining my style. I don’t use many of the aroma chemicals that are commonly used in mass market scents — for example strong ozonic notes and melon notes (I just don’t like them so it’s hard for me to work with them). By avoiding some of the things that smell most synthetic to me and instead focusing on naturals and natural-smelling synthetics, I try to blend the best of both worlds.

I’m getting a shipment of some new naturals from France in about two weeks that will be fun to play with — I’ll mention more about those after they come. I have an all-natural project in mind as soon as I finish the current scents in progress.

Thanks so much for your suggestions and information! I’m very excited to hear that you have an all-natural project as I am always on the lookout for all natural perfumes that also smell wonderful for myself and my daughters. I have heard/read nothing but great things about your creations so I am looking forward to trying some of your samples and will order some time in the fall. Hopefully by then your new fragrances will be available as samples!

I am really looking forward to trying my samples once I get back to California. I have several things there waiting, but I think I am most excited about my SSS samples, because I put off ordering them for far too long. Thank you, too, for the link back to my SF shopping post.

Hi Laurie,
From this post, it seems like you might be thinking of changing Opal a bit: adding florals where there weren’t any before and possibly diminishing the gorgeous citrus aspect. As a huge fan of original Opal, I have to say I hope you will keep it the way it was originally. As you surely know, It’s such a huge pet peeve for perfume lovers when their favorite fragrance gets reformulated and then it smells different, yet is still named as the same fragrance. You may lose that chunk of people who were so loyal to the fragrance and found it perfect.

If the new Opal smells as it did originally, I would gladly buy several bottles of it immediately, but if it has additional notes or is lacking in original notes, it will be sad and maybe shouldn’t even carry the name Opal. This is just my perspective as an Opal lover. I am eagerly awaiting a time when the original scent is available again.

BTW, do you know if there any stores that carry your line, that might still have a bottle of Opal lying around. I’d be happy to call them and inquire about it. 🙂
(Also, just have to add: as a fan of original Opal, if you ever wish to send me a sample of the new version for “fan feedback,” just let me know as I would love that!)

Hi Ro,
Given that I have to change a few ingredients, Opal can’t be identical to the original. I haven’t worked on it in a long time. I felt a bit discouraged for exactly this reason. I don’t think I can make it identical so anything I do will possibly annoy lovers of the original. I’m not sure if I should try to bring it back or if it would be best to do a new sandalwood musk with a new name that is similar but not identical. I think a new name will be best. And yes, when I get back to that project I’d love your feedback! Meantime, I think Perfect Veil by Sarah Horowitz Thran is very nice and similar to original Opal so you might give that a sniff if you’ve not tried it. I never sold Opal through any stores, so the only place to sometimes find a vintage bottle is on ebay or one of the swap boards.
thanks for input!
Laurie

Thanks Laurie! That is understandable and I can imagine, a bit frustrating. It’s hard to improve on perfection, I think! If it were me, I would probably change the name, but maintain the original name by creating a “flanker” i.e. Opal Fleur, or something like that. In that way, you can invoke the original and make explicit the relationship between the two, while also establishing the reformulation as a whole new scent.
If you ever want me to sniff it, just email me. I think you are very talented and I’ve enjoyed your perfumes very much! And thanks for the rec, I will absolutely be trying Perfect Veil. Take care!

Great, I just saved your email to my testers file, thanks! Glad you’ve been enjoying the scents. That’s a good idea for the name. I had thought about plays on Opal too. I’ll wait and see how it turns out before worrying about names. I think using real sandalwood in it will be an improvement (instead of just synthetic), and I’m trying a new expensive but beautiful musk in it. I think it could be really nice but in a new way.